OUR CURRICULUM

Our curriculum centers on deceptively simple, ageless, and universal questions that we began asking ourselves not long after we acquired language; questions for which we still today seek better answers. Lang students engage with deep Socratic questioning throughout each school year. Good universal questions can be engaged with at all levels, allowing for effective in-class differentiation. In each unit’s lessons, teachers across grades posit to students a set of developmentally appropriate essential questions that help them pursue thoughtful responses to the core complexities that the bigger, ageless, and universal questions expose. As an organizing curricular structure, this framework recognizes that each learner has their own launch point and journey toward mastery in each subject. The framework’s implicit assumption is that even our youngest students have intellectual lives rich with complex concepts about how and why the world works as it does. Along with learning foundational skills, know-how (content area-specific practical skills), and know-what (content area-specific knowledge) in each course, all students explore how the unit's organizing questions intersect with and interrogate that course’s content.

We support, nurture, inspire, and challenge students as they journey from elementary through high school and as they become productive artists, writers, entrepreneurs, scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and all the other richly diverse roles we take on as adults in our work lives. Lang’s assumption is that school is our students’ first workplace and, thus, should be an examined and values driven experience. True to an interdisciplinary approach, core skills like encoding and decoding, evaluating resources, and configuring and imagining the state of the physical world around us are taught throughout the curriculum and across subjects. Central to this work is our commitment to project-based learning (PBL) and our ongoing work with The Buck Institute for Education and PBL Works.

What is Project-Based Learning?

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

Through Project-Based Learning (PBL), Lang teachers create engaging experiences that bring learning to life for students.

Over periods ranging from a week to an entire semester, students focus on a specific project that requires them to solve a real-world problem or address a complex question. They demonstrate what they've learned through a tangible product or presentation, often aimed at an authentic audience.

Through this process, students develop deep understanding of the subject matter while also honing critical thinking, teamwork, creativity, and communication skills. PBL fosters a creative and energetic learning environment, sparking enthusiasm among both students and teachers.

Formally, Project-Based Learning is a teaching approach where students acquire knowledge and skills by engaging in an extended investigation of an authentic, challenging problem or question. This method emphasizes inquiry, relevance, and practical application.

Project-Based Learning (PBL) blends subject mastery with meaningful, hands-on work and personal connections, leading to powerful learning outcomes. It enhances not only students' academic success but also their personal growth, helping them develop essential life skills and a sense of purpose in their education.

PBL can be particularly transformative for students who face the most significant educational barriers. In today’s world, we need young people equipped to address both personal and global challenges, and PBL uniquely prepares them for these tasks through its focus on real-world problem-solving and inquiry-based learning.

Here are some of the key ways PBL changes students' learning experiences:

Engagement: PBL captures students' interest by making learning relevant to their lives and communities, encouraging them to solve problems that matter to them.
Deeper Learning: It fosters a deeper understanding of content and greater retention, enabling students to apply knowledge in new contexts.
Real-World Exposure: Students connect with professionals and their communities, helping to spark career interests.
Sense of Purpose: Seeing the tangible impact of their work gives students a stronger sense of agency.
Success Skills: They develop essential workplace and life skills, such as initiative, problem-solving, collaboration, and communication.
Teacher Relationships: PBL fosters closer, more rewarding relationships between students and teachers, who share in the excitement of meaningful learning.
Creativity & Technology: Students creatively use technology in all stages of their projects, from research to presentation.

At Lang, we believe that the specific mindsets and approaches in Project-Based Learning (PBL) can be leveraged to provide equitable, impactful experiences for all students. Aligned with work developed by our partner PBLWorks at The Buck Institute for Education, this inquiry has resulted in the identification of four key "equity levers" that enhance PBL practices and ensure that all learners are reached.

These levers build upon the Essential Project Design Elements and PBL Teaching Practices (see below), and are rooted in curiosity, reflection, and a commitment to ongoing equity work. Each lever is driven by a guiding question to help teachers maintain a focus on inclusivity.

The Four Equity Levers in PBL

Knowledge of Students: How can I better understand and build meaningful relationships with my students to design projects that honor their strengths, interests, and identities while meeting their individual needs?
Cognitive Demand: How can I maintain high intellectual expectations and provide the necessary support to ensure every student advances in their academic mindset and cognitive growth?
Literacy: How can I offer learning experiences that enhance students' abilities to read, write, listen, and speak across various contexts and subjects?
Shared Power: How do I foster student voice, choice, agency, and interdependence in the classroom?

These equity levers offer educators actionable insights to create a more inclusive, engaging learning environment, ensuring that every student can succeed in PBL.